OBSERVATIONAL SELECTION EFFECTS WITH GROUND-BASED GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTORS
Name
Chen-2017-OBSERVATIONAL SELECTION EFFECTS WITH.pdf
Size
2.25 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
a0abddf8878ae9ff9011d80c697dad8d
Author(s)
Chen, Hsin-Yu
Holz, Daniel E.
Katsavounidis, Erotokritos
Essick, Reed Clasey
Vitale, Salvatore
Date Issued
January 2017
Journal
Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Citation
Chen, Hsin-Yu, Reed Essick, Salvatore Vitale, Daniel E. Holz, and Erik Katsavounidis. “OBSERVATIONAL SELECTION EFFECTS WITH GROUND-BASED GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTORS.” The Astrophysical Journal 835, no. 1 (January 16, 2017): 31. © 2017 The American Astronomical Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Ground-based interferometers are not perfect all-sky instruments, and it is important to account for their behavior when considering the distribution of detected events. In particular, the LIGO detectors are most sensitive to sources above North America and the Indian Ocean, and as the Earth rotates, the sensitive regions are swept across the sky. However, because the detectors do not acquire data uniformly over time, there is a net bias on detectable sources' right ascensions. Both LIGO detectors preferentially collect data during their local night; it is more than twice as likely to be local midnight than noon when both detectors are operating. We discuss these selection effects and how they impact LIGO's observations and electromagnetic (EM) follow-up. Beyond galactic foregrounds associated with seasonal variations, we find that equatorial observatories can access over 80% of the localization probability, while mid-latitudes will access closer to 70%. Facilities located near the two LIGO sites can observe sources closer to their zenith than their analogs in the south, but the average observation will still be no closer than 44° from zenith. We also find that observatories in Africa or the South Atlantic will wait systematically longer before they can begin observing compared to the rest of the world; though, there is a preference for longitudes near the LIGOs. These effects, along with knowledge of the LIGO antenna pattern, can inform EM follow-up activities and optimization, including the possibility of directing observations even before gravitational-wave events occur.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
LIGO (Observatory : Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/835/1/31
